Major rail tragedy avertedEngine ‘hijacked’, derailed near Dhanaula
Barnala, November 27
With timely action and presence of mind of the railway authorities, a major rail mishap was today averted when a diesel engine (16751 WDM2-Katni) was “hijacked” from the Dhuri railway station at about 11.10 am by Mithu Ram (42), a resident of Akkawali village in Tohana tehsil in
Haryana, who drove it towards Barnala on the Ambala-Dhuri-Bathinda rail section at a speed of about 150 kmph against its normal speed of about 90
kmph.

Shekhawat to inaugurate Agro Tech-2006 on Dec 1
Chandigarh, November 27
The Vice-President, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, will inaugurate the four-day Agro Tech-2006 here on December 1, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) announced today. The Governor of Punjab, Gen S.F. Rodrigues (Retd), the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, and Mr Eric F.Ch. Niehe, Ambassador, The Netherlands, will attend the opening ceremony.

Punjab rice millers stop
supply to Central poolChandigarh, November 27
Rice millers in Punjab have stopped delivery to the Central pool.“None of the around 3,000 rice mills in the state today delivered rice to the Food Corporation of India
(FCI), which procures it for the Central pool,” said Mr Gurdip Singh
Cheema, vice-president of the Punjab Rice Millers Association.

No action against Jail Supdt in corruption case
Nabha, November 27
The Punjab Jail authorities have not taken any action against Mr Kuldeep Singh, Superintendent, Open Air Jail here following the registration of a case against him on November 24 for embezzling funds.

Amritsar, November 27
Even as UNESCO nominee Dr Enamul Haque of Bangladesh had pointed out that the government should ban use of vehicles around the Golden Temple complex, move of
multi-storey parking by demolishing 155 -year old heritage school, near the Sikh shrine is likely to play havoc with environment.

Employees of Bhagat Puran Singh Pingalwara and other NGOs launch a mass movement against demolition of the heritage school building in Amritsar on
Monday. Photo: Rajiv Sharma

Patna-Delhi ‘Garib Rath’ to roll in
Kapurthala, November 27
While Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s dream of running “Garib Rath”, the common man’s AC train at cheaper fare, has already taken practical shape with the operation of first such train from Amritsar to Saharsa a few months ago, the second “Garib Rath” may also become operational soon between Patna and New Delhi.

Time to vote out SAD, Cong, says Mann
Mansa, November 27
The successive state governments under the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress had failed to deliver and the time was ripe for people to opt for a third alternative in the coming elections, SAD
(Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann said here today.

SAD keeping vigil on rebels: Sukhbir
Jandiala Guru, November 27
Mr Sukhbir Badal, MP and general secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), said a strict vigil was being kept on those indulging in anti-party activities so that they could not harm the party in the coming Assembly elections.

Party
ticket not promised to new entrants: CMChandigarh, November 27
The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, today stated that leaders of other political parties joining the Congress had not been promised the party ticket for the forthcoming Assembly elections. Interestingly, most of the leaders joining the Congress are seen as front-runners for the party ticket.

Left alliance: Seat-sharing
list outChandigarh, November 27
The CPI, the CPM and the Lok Bhalai Party (LBP) today released the first list of Assembly constituencies where these parties would put up common candidates. The list was released after a joint meeting of the parties that had form a joint front recently.

High priests ban protests at ‘parkash asthans’
Amritsar, November 27
Five high priests today ordered the Panthic organisations not to hold protests and burn effigies at religious functions where parkash of Guru Granth Sahib is organised or near the religious places.

Netball association to hold state championship
Fatehgarh Sahib, November 27
The District Netball Association will hold the Senior State Men and Women Netball Championship from December 1 to 3 at Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College grounds.

Travel agents booked for duping youth
Moga, November 27
The police today booked six persons, including two women, on the charge of duping a person of Rs 6 lakh on the pretext of sending his son abroad.

Five booked for minor girl’s marriage
Patiala, November 27
The case of a minor girl being forcibly married to a 32-year-old man at Patran yesterday has taken a new twist with the police registering a case against the boy and four of the girl's kin under Section 5/6/7 of the Child Marriage Resistant Act, 1929 and 120B of the
IPC.

Aided school employees hold protest
Tarn Taran, November 27
Hundreds of teachers and other employees of the aided private schools, including a large number of woman members, protested against the denial of restoration of pension and gratuity by the state government here today.

Teachers of aided schools hold rally
Ropar, November 27
Teachers of all aided schools of the district today took mass leave and organised a rally here in protest against the non-implementation of the pension scheme for them as promised by the state government. The call for the rally had been given by the Punjab State Aided School Teachers Union and other employees unions here.